Monday, May 23, 2016

so nice to make nice

In defense of mediocrity, critics beware: Pretty soon everyone will speak and write in the dulcet, understanding tones that offend no one and ... teach nothing.

I can't pretend to understand the legal chess moves involved, but I can smell the advance of personnel departments everywhere ... let's all play nice ... and do things my way.

Here's an article about getting a choke-hold on criticism by claiming copyright infringement. As I say, I don't get all the ramifications, but I can smell the rise of yet more mediocrity.

Writing a bad review online has always run a small risk of opening
yourself up to a defamation claim. But few would expect to be told that
they had to delete their review or face a lawsuit over another part of
the law: copyright infringement. Yet that’s what happened to Annabelle Narey after she posted a negative review of a building firm on Mumsnet.

If you put forth an idea or project, isn't it to be expected that someone will disagree or point out its flaws? Isn't that part of the price of being an adult? Is it necessary to resort to the oleaginous insertion of legal leverage? Is there something wrong about having an opinion ... "s/he's a lousy worker" or "it's a poor product."

My name is Adam Fisher. I live in Northampton, Mass., U.S.A. I have a wife and three children. This is my blog and consists of almost-daily postings -- sometimes (older) about the Zen Buddhism I have admired and practiced for something short of 50 years; sometimes about other 'spiritual' matters; and (more recently) about whatever strikes my fancy. Except to the extent that it might help others to consider what sort of fool they might prefer not to be, this blog does not aim to help anyone. Writing is an old and diminishing habit. It's what I do. Once upon a time, I built a zendo/meditation hall in the backyard here and invited people to come. The zendo is still there and my Dharma name is still "Genkaku" ("original realization" or "original understanding") but these days the formality of meditation has drained. Black Moon Zendo is still a good zendo, but I am 77 in 2017 ... creaky and disinclined. I honor those who make courageous journeys, but am hoist by my own observation that "Just because you are indispensable to the universe does not mean the universe needs your help." Best wishes to all. I can be contacted at genkakukigen@aol.com